Articles 10.21.2004

The Honolulu Advertiser reports on the funeral service of Pfc. Jeungjin Kim, who was killed on 10.06.2004 in Ramadi. Pfc. Kim, of the 44th Engineer Battalion, was 23 years old. More than 200 people attended, including his parents, who flew in from South Korea.
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The Kodiak Daily Mirror, AK, carries a personal report on a 2nd BCT soldier, Cpl. Richard Lampl. The article alludes that he is with the 44th Engineer Battalion, and provides some descriptions of his living conditions and unit morale.
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Many sources, including The Times out of the UK, indicate 850 British troops from the Black Watch Regiment will redeploy from Basra to an area south of Baghdad to "replace a US Marine unit earmarked for "other purposes" - widely understood to mean a US offensive on the rebel stronghold of Fallujah." The agreement was for a 30-day limit, with the troops still going home before Christmas. For anyone curious of the views of families of British troops, here is the response to the redeployment from some family members.

Also, British news agencies have reports & commentary from inside and around Fallujah, including from the BBC and the Times.
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There has been a lot of commentary about the size of the U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, particularly in relation to the insurgency. The NY Times (free registration required) carries a very long piece reviewing the major decisions made early in the war, and provides some insight into the current situation the 2nd BCT faces.

An editorial from journalist Joe Galloway discusses the current 3rd troop rotation in Iraq and future troop levels, mention. My understanding is that this will be the transition from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) 2 to OIF 3. Since the 2nd BCT was an addition, not a replacement, they are commonly considered to be part of OIF 2.5.